The ArenaNet Blog has an article on Progression and Leveling in Guild Wars 2 written by Isaiah "Izzy" Cartwright, who explains how they are setting the initial level cap at 80 and flattening out the leveling curve in their MMORPG sequel so the amount of play required to progress at later levels is the same as the early ones. He explains: "Overall, we expect our content to be the driving force behind how long it takes to do things in-game. Anyone can increase the length of an experience bar and call it content, but our world is filled with an almost endless stream of things to do. We expect content—not long, grindy progression—to be the deciding factor that keeps people playing our game. We want everyone to stick with Guild Wars 2 because our content is fun and enjoyable, not out of some dogged determination to slowly, slowly advance. And because our world is ever-changing and dynamic, you can play our content again and again! Two characters journeying through the game will have two different experiences, which means the game will remain fresh for all you out there who enjoy making a million characters." Thanks Guild Wars 2 Slovenija.

Cram wrote on Jul 30, 2010, 16:45:Well I see the logic behind the potential ghost-town situation Zadig mentions. However, despite all the recent articles about GW2, we really don't know very much about this game at all. I won't join any we're-all-gonna-die bandwagon till I play the game. Just because the level cap is higher does not necessarily mean jumping on-board the WoWClone bandwagon if the games systems are fundamentally different and I get the impression they will be. I also see a lot of benefits to raising the level cap and flattening out the curve.

Yup - have to admit, a lot of GW was spent being stuck at level 20, never getting stronger. Don't see a huge downside to this.